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Curtis Hall to reopen by next month

MONUMENT SQ.—Curtis Hall, a city-run community center at 30 South St.. will officially reopen Nov. 19 after being closed for renovations for over a year, and could open sooner.

Boston Center for Youth and Families spokesperson Sandy Holden told the Gazette last week that a reopening celebration for the community center is scheduled for Nov. 19 at 11:30 a.m. Mayor Thomas Menino is expected to attend, she said.

She said there might be a “soft opening” before the celebration, depending on how long it takes to complete the work.

Meanwhile, Jeanette Ayala, the new director of programming for Curtis Hall, announced in an email that she is seeking community input on how the renovated space should be used.

“We are currently accepting applications for any prospective programs or/and agencies requesting space usage,” she said in the announcement.

Holden told the Gazette that all of the rooms at Curtis Hall have been renovated. The hall’s third-floor basketball court has a new floor and a new running track has been installed circling the court.

The new track is flat instead of tilted, she said. “Runners will no longer have to rely on centrifugal force to stay up,” Holden said.

She also said that some soundproofing materials have been added to attempt to deaden the basketball court’s noise impact on the senior room directly below it.

Curtis Hall now also boasts a projector and pull-down screen in the first-floor community room, Holden said.

The $4 million renovation project, which started last fall, also included a new roof and new heating, cooling, electrical and plumbing systems.

The reopening of Curtis Hall will mean the closing of community centers at English High School and the now-closed Agassiz Elementary School. Those community centers wer slated for closure last year, but kept open because of the Curtis Hall renovations.

Some independently funded programming, including the Jamaica Plain Adult Learning Program, will still be based at English High, Holden told the Gazette. “We brokered arrangements with Boston Public Schools for any groups that were using the center’s facilities for leagues or programs to stay if they want to,” she said in an email.

For more information about programming opportunities at Curtis Hall, contact Ayala at 635-5195 or jeanette.ayala@ cityofboston.gov.